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The Bible just then seems like a book that can be diced and sliced anyway one pleases. You can take parts seriously, literally or not. I often wonder why Jesus spoke to a population full of ignorant people in “code” (parables).
Perhaps it is just me but I see more and more Christians customizing the religion to THEIR taste as opposed to actually customizing themselves to what is being actually told to them or asked of them in the book. I dunno.
I probably still did not go a job in getting my questions over.
You're not the first to ask "Why did Jesus speak in parables"
"The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” Matthew 13:10
Jesus' answer:
Luke 8:10
He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, “‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’
Matthew 13:13
This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
“ ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
-- you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
-- For this people’s heart has become calloused;
-- they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
-- hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’ "
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
I agree that more and more are customizing the religion and their beliefs to THEIR taste as opposed to actually customizing themselves to what is being actually told to them.
A classic example of this is the rapture date setting or dare I say those who maintain opposition to John 3:36
I just wanted to address these two parts. I'm the same way in that, after years of studying and reading the bible the entire thing just fell apart and makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. It's more clear to me now that the bible was written by primitive men who were probably afraid of thunder. The bible was then changed by any number of men in higher positions to secure and retain power over the masses. It worked in Rome and it works today in America.
And yes there are something like 30,000+ denominations of Christianity now. All full of bickering and arguing with one another whilst thinking they have the only key to the door. This just strikes me as another gigantic slap in the face of reality. If Christianity had any real answers, which it does not, there wouldn't be a need to have so many tens of thousands of versions of it.
People want answers. When people look at something and don't understand it, they make something up. This is why religion still exists. People can't fathom the unknown or actually having to try to look for answers beyond the all question answering "God done it". It's honestly lazy and sad behavior that keeps a large portion of humanity in total ignorance of reality.
Touching a little on what you hiinted at Jason, often the focus is placed on the rival groups who determined the final count of the books we now see in the New Testament (still I realize a lot of Christians are not even aware of all that went on in determining which of the hundreds of Gospels did NOT make it in and the 4 that did.) Little attention is given to the fact that something similar happened with the Old Testament and you can see hints of it in the middle OT. The ancient Israelites had their religious infightings also. Turns out that the Yahwehists won out and as a result, consigned future generations of Jews to THEIR interpretations of things as written in the OT. Just imagine of the Baalists won out or those pushing for El?
There are two interesting stories in the OT that highlights this - the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal and the story of Josiah and his rise to power. Clearly the two leading cults in ancient Israel during the time of the monarchy were the Baal cult and the cult of Yahweh. There were others, of course, but the Baal cult proved the most formidable. Elijah was the hero for the Yahwehists and saw the incursion of the Baal cult as a threat to his nation’s security. When the opportunity arose, he resorted to murder to instill fear into the people (that is, if the biblical story can be believed). Of course the story is colored in with some challenge that was issued, detailing how Yahweh came through for Elijah. Somehow Elijah saw the need to murder the priests of Baal, this after his god supposedly rained down fire from heaven, which one would think 500 priest of Baal would not stand a chance if he rained the fire down on them. In any event, Elijah lent his god a hand in their destruction
Elijah’s successor (Elisha) carried on the campaign to rid the land of Baal worship, by anointing King Jehu to carry out the bloody deed of eliminating the ruling party who were devoted Baal worshippers much like cowardly Imans today delegating death missions on young, gullible souls. Still the Baal cult thrived in the remote areas of the country which leads us to Josiah
In the story of Josiah, we have a young king who ascends the throne at either 9 or 12 (not looking at a Bible). A little boy such as this would have little clue, but when read between the lines, it is clear that the strings are being pulled from behind the throne by Yahwehists like Jeremiah the prophet and one of the first things he (Josiah) does is to go on a campaign to purge the land of anything to do with Baal. We are told that he even burnt the bones of Baalic priests on their own altars. For this, he is lauded with the highest praises and likened to his great ancestor David and his grandfather, Hezekiah who carried out a similar purge. So as with the NT, you end up with the version of the stories the victors wanted us to have not what some deity determined.
You're not the first to ask "Why did Jesus speak in parables"
"The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” Matthew 13:10
Jesus' answer:
Luke 8:10
He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, “‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’
Matthew 13:13
This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
“ ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
-- you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
-- For this people’s heart has become calloused;
-- they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
-- hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’ "
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
I agree that more and more are customizing the religion and their beliefs to THEIR taste as opposed to actually customizing themselves to what is being actually told to them.
A classic example of this is the rapture date setting or dare I say those who maintain opposition to John 3:36
Well, the Disciples did not understand either, did they?
I've heard them all, tried a few of the various theologies and still nothing. In fact, I was at my height in the Christian faith, content, at peace, assured when the wheels fell off.
I am curious what you mean by atthe height of your faith?
I believe faith is given from God so if it ever happens again it won't be because of what you read or do.
The Bible is not to be regarded as the be-all end-all that it is, and that's just part of the problem.
The source of man's faith and the root of his being is to be his Creator, who is spirit. The bible on the other hand, describes itself as a tangled web that the natural man cannot fathom. (1 Cor 2:14)
Yet it's the source for Christians around the world, and this simply should not be. But what would a world full of people claiming "truth" be like when there is no written standard? Welcome to the life of faith, the life of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - the barrio where God is leader, His people really do depend on Him, and preachers are unemployed.
The bible then becomes elementary, for knowing Him gives one the truth and wisdom; but alas, we go about it backwards.
BTW Insane, you sound a lot like a burgeoning Paul.
Perhaps I did not ask this question as well as I could have the last time around, but I will ask it again in length. I know some people look at former Christians and wonder how is it they fell away or why could they just not get it. Former Christians who are now atheists and agnostics often argue that they fell away by actually reading the Bible and I mean READING and STUDYING it. This is probably confusing to those who read the same book and proclaim it is precisely the reason they maintain their faith.
In the Christian world I came from, I was taught that the Bible was the world of god in literal fashion. There were no errors. Okay, I now realize that was beyond farcical. Still, the book is supposed to be the manual by which the Christian lives or takes his cues from. What I have noticed; however, is that there is selective choosing by some and this is just one group. Passages that are outright offensive are considered “back then” or “under the law” which no longer apply. For others, the passages are spiritualized so when we read that God told Abraham to kill his son, for example, it didn’t really happen that way and the “correct” spiritual lesson is explained in some way that does not even begin to resemble the story. Others disregard the Old Testament altogether, claiming it was written by confused people or people who were just plain old ignorant and projected their own understanding of observable things on a deity they suspected live up in the heavens. Others narrow down what they believe to just what Jesus said, ignoring the rest of the NT as much of it is attributed to someone they deem suspect – Paul. Then there are those who glean out all the lovey-dovey parts while leaving the rest out. For example, Jesus mentions that we should love our neighbor as ourselves, but turns around and talks about killing people’s children (Revelation 2 – I think).
The Bible just then seems like a book that can be diced and sliced anyway one pleases. You can take parts seriously, literally or not. I often wonder why Jesus spoke to a population full of ignorant people in “code” (parables). These were not the Greeks we are talking about here, who had a culture of philosophical babbling where what was being said does not really mean what was being said. If people were being told to pluck out their eyes if it caused them to offend (the law), then what would they walk away thinking it meant? In a Jewish world where Pharisees exhibited extreme behavior to underline their devotion to the law (such as keeping their eyes heaven-ward in the streets to avoid noticing a woman while pointing to their various bruises as testimony to their great devotion), one would think that being told to pluck out an eye meant just that. Today, with a supposed more enlightened group, it is easy to say “he did not really mean that. He meant this.”
Perhaps it is just me but I see more and more Christians customizing the religion to THEIR taste as opposed to actually customizing themselves to what is being actually told to them or asked of them in the book. I dunno.
I probably still did not go a job in getting my questions over.
I think I understand your question. Perhaps the differences are simply different individuals hoping to find their answers from different places.
I left "Christianity" but didn't leave God because I had an idea about what God was before I could speak language in order to try to express it. I was raised in "Christianity" and went along with it because it pleased my parents, once I could make my own choices I left because there is nothing in "Christianity" that was of any use to what I feel in my heart.
- Felt no pressure, stopped the firre and brimstone crap
- Went to church because I wanted to not because I felt obligated
- On a spiritual high
Did any of that have anything to do with the Creator? Trust me I am not being snarky at all. What I mean is... perhaps none of that stuff really had anything to do with God. I know that sounds bizarre. and I don't have time to explain, gotta go, I'm late already. I'll come back later on to try to explain what I mean. I know this is all coming out wrong.. lol.
sorry.
Did any of that have anything to do with the Creator? Trust me I am not being snarky at all. What I mean is... perhaps none of that stuff really had anything to do with God. I know that sounds bizarre. and I don't have time to explain, gotta go, I'm late already. I'll come back later on to try to explain what I mean. I know this is all coming out wrong.. lol.
sorry.
peace,
sparrow
You will have to elaborate when you get some time.
I think I understand your question. Perhaps the differences are simply different individuals hoping to find their answers from different places.
I left "Christianity" but didn't leave God because I had an idea about what God was before I could speak language in order to try to express it. I was raised in "Christianity" and went along with it because it pleased my parents, once I could make my own choices I left because there is nothing in "Christianity" that was of any use to what I feel in my heart.
Hey Phazel,
Perhaps I can ask you. What if all I did in life was apply the axiom, "do not do to others what you do not want done to you" and never crack open a Bible, attend a church, believe in the biblical god or Jesus, would I be faulted for anything?
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